The magical question. Where is the oil and gas industry headed in Oklahoma? If anyone knew the answer, fortunes could be made. Misery could be ended in the industry, or in some cases, extended.
“I think we’re bumping along the bottom here and I think our members are thinking about what the new world looks like,” said Brook A. Simmons, the new President of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma in an interview with OK Energy Today.
“I think it will be a while to get out of this canyon.”
He has been president since May 1 after the organization conducted a nationwide search and appointed him to lead the oil and gas group.
What will the industry look like in the coming year or two?
“I think the shock has worn off and they (members) are thinking, “how do we put together our plan?” for the new world,” added Simmons who believes the November 3rd election will also have an influence on how people in the industry think.
“I haven’t heard anybody saying that things are going to get much better before the third quarter of 2021. That’s the gap we have to get across and I think—there will be continued job losses in Oklahoma as companies right-size for what the future looks like,” assessed Simmons. “I suspect there will be more companies that reorganize or forced to reorganized at the 2020 end of the year. But let’s hope we’ve seen the bottom.”
Ah, but what does “a while” mean for oil and gas in Oklahoma? Months? How many more quarters? A year? Two or three years?
Simmons has talked to a lot of his alliance members.
“They talk about things improving somewhat in the third quarter of 2021. Let’s just say based on the data we currently have, it’s going to be a long, slow recovery and we hope we have seen the bottom with regard to rig activity,” explained Simmons.
“But we probably have not seen the bottom with regard to job losses, divestitures, mergers and acquisitions—those kind of changes to right-size the future.”
Part Two of OK Energy Today’s interview with Simmons will appear Tuesday.